Saturday, March 31, 2018

Swaziland’s Prime Minister
Barnabas Dlamini has hinted his government might try to restrict access to
social media.

He told Senators there was
nothing police could do ‘at the moment’ about posts on sites such as Facebook.
The Prime Minister and his government have a long history of threatening social
media.

The Swazi Observer reported on Wednesday (28 March 2018), ‘The premier
told the senators that all countries in the world were concerned on whether
social media was good for development or not.’

He was speaking during a
debate about how video footage showing the murder of businessman Victor Gamedze
who was shot dead in a petrol station appeared on social media.

The newspaper reported,
‘The premier said it was unfortunate that social media was a very complex
phenomenon, which no single person or organisation could control.’

It added, ‘However, the
prime minister said there were many positives of social media. It enables
people to communicate easily at lower costs and it also enables people to do
business internationally. But he warned that abuse of social media could lead
to devastating effects.’

The Swazi Government has a
history of hostility to social media. In 2011, Dlamini said it was important to keep
information published on Facebookaway from the Swazi people. ‘If such stories from these websites then make it
to the newspapers and radios, then the public at large will start to think
there is some truth in the story yet it was just malicious gossip,’ the Times of Swaziland reported him saying at
the time.

He was commenting after information about a cabinet
minister had appeared on social media.

The Swazi Observer also reported at the time, ‘Dlamini said government
did not have any measures to control the internet but relied on the support of
the media which assists by shying away from information published or sourced
from the internet.’

In the run up to April 2011 a group used Facebook to
try to drum up support for an ‘uprising’ for democracy in the kingdom ruled by
King Mswati III, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. The
Government threatened the online activists with prosecution.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), in a
statement in March 2011 said, ‘On
25 March 2011, Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini assured Senators in
Parliament that his government would track down, arrest and prosecute one
Gangadza Masilela, whose Facebook postings have been critical of the status quo
in Swaziland and the leadership in the country. Masilela, who is believed to be
using a pseudonym, has a large following on his Facebook page. Parliament
recently urged the government to do something about Masilela as his Facebook
postings were deemed too critical of the country’s leadership.’

It added, ‘Having seen the uprisings in the Arab
world where these social networks have been used to mobilize people to rise up
and demand political changes from their governments, the jittery Swazi
government is taking no chances and is trying to track down those calling for
the Swazi uprising.’

In
May 2011, the Times of Swaziland reportedSwaziland
had specially ‘trained officers’ to track down people who used Facebook to criticise the Swazi Government. Nathaniel
Mahluza, Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Information Communication and
Technology, said the government was worried by what the newspaper called ‘unsavoury
comments’ about the kingdom being published on the internet.

Academic research published in 2013 suggested that
people in Swaziland
used the Internet to communicate with one another
and share information and ideas about the campaign for democracy, bypassing the
Swazi mainstream media which was heavily censored. They debated and shared
information about activities designed to bring attention to the human rights
abuses in the kingdom.

The research suggested, ‘It is clear that social media
sites have extended the public sphere to offer opportunities for a wider range
of people both in the country and outside it, to produce, distribute and
exchange information and commentary about the kingdom – especially in the
context of the need for political change. People speak in their own voices and
are not mediated in the way mainstream media are in Swaziland.’

In
2016, Afrobarometer reported nearly one in three
people surveyed in Swaziland said they got their news from the internet at
least ‘a few times a week’. It also reported that 33 percent of those surveyed
got their news from ‘social media such as Facebook and Twitter’ a few times a
week or every day.

In 2014, a
report jointly published by the Media Institute of Southern
Africa and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) found young people in
Swaziland were turning to social media sites such as Facebook because it
allowed them to enjoy ‘the fundamental rights to freedom of expression’ that
was denied to them elsewhere in the kingdom.

They also bypassed mainstream media such as
television, radio and newspapers in favour of social media. The report called Youth Usage of Social media in Swaziland concluded, ‘The
young people have welcomed the emergence of the social media because, among
others, it affords them an opportunity not only to inter-act but also enjoy the
fundamental right to freedom of expression provided in Section 24 of the
Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland adopted in 2005.’

The report added, ‘They can now easily and freely bypass the severely
censored mainstream media to access, produce, distribute and exchange
information and ideas.

Friday, March 30, 2018

A campaign has started in
Swaziland called ‘Don’t kill us, we are human beings too’ to raise awareness
about people with albinism.

People in Swaziland with
the skin condition live in fear of their lives as some traditional healers,
witchdoctors and others use their body parts in spells to bring good luck.

The Stukie Motsa Foundation is now using social media to dispel the false
belief that people with albinism cleanse back luck and bring fortune to people.

There have been concerns in Swaziland for years that
people with albinism have been targeted and murdered. Witchdoctors use the body
parts to make spells that they claim bring people good luck.Sport teams have also been known to use
spells to bring them good fortune during matches. Witchdoctors’ services are
especially sought after by candidates contesting parliamentary and local
elections. An election is due in Swaziland later in 2018.

During the national elections in Swaziland in 2013,
people with albinism lived in fear that their body parts would be harvested by
candidates seeking good luck.

Independent Newspapers in South Africa reported
at the time, ‘In the past [people with albinism], who
lack the skin pigment melanin, as well as epileptics have been specifically
targeted, prompting the police to set up registries.

‘In 2010, the killing and mutilation of [people with
albinism], including in one instance the decapitation of two children in
Nhlangano, prompted panic.’

In August 2013, Independent
Newspapers quoted an academic at the University of
Swaziland, who did not want to be named, saying, ‘Ritual killings to achieve
elected office are a natural outgrowth of a government based not on rationality
or democratic principles but on superstitious beliefs.

‘The Swazi king claims power through an annual Incwala
festival where a bull is brutally sacrificed and mysterious rituals occur, and
this sets the tone. No one knows how office-holders are appointed in Swaziland.
It’s all done in secret, without recourse to merit or any rhyme or reason, so
this fuels irrational beliefs.

‘Ritual murder has long been part of Swazi life.’

At present, a
Swazi traditional healer is in police custody in South Africa for allegedly
killing two children from Vosman near Witbank, one of them living with
albinism. The South African Deputy Minister for Social Development, Hendrietta
Bogopane-Zulu said the killing of people living with albinism by people
believed to be Swazis has become a national crisis in her home country.

The Swazi Observer reported on Tuesday (27 March 2018), ‘The deputy
minister said she wanted to know what Swaziland was doing to stop the killing
of people living with albinism. She also stated that some of these people were
quitting their jobs and schools in fear of being kidnapped.’

Albinism affects the production of melanin, the pigment that colours skin, hair and eyes. It's
a lifelong condition, but it doesn't get worse over time. People
with albinism have a reduced amount of melanin, or no melanin at all. This can
affect their colouring and their eyesight. Albinism is caused by faulty genes
that a child inherits from their parents.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

One of King Mswati’s most
prominent lieutenants in Swaziland has said money intended for his birthday
celebration in April is being ‘looted’.

Mbongeni Mbingo, the editor-in-chief of the Swazi Observer group, newspapers in
effect owned by the King, said, ‘We
all know that long before this event takes place, there are people who have
already secured the bidding for the tenders and most of the money isn’t going
to be spent on where it should.’

The equivalent of millions
of US dollars will be spent on the so-called 50/50 celebrations to mark the
King’s 50th birthday and the 50th anniversary of
Independence from Great Britain. King Mswati rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Writing
in the Sunday Observer (25 March 2018), Mbingo said, ‘It is inevitable that this country would
want to celebrate such milestones and as such we have to accept that no matter
our fiscal situation, this was going to happen.’

Swaziland is broke and Finance
Minister Martin Dlamini in his budget speech on 1 March 2018 said the
government would only spend on ‘the most critical expenditure items’ this year.
He acknowledged, ‘Government sending continues to outpace its ability to raise
enough revenues resulting in cash flow challenges and accumulation of arrears.’

In
his speech opening Parliament
in February 2018 the King commanded his government, ‘to prepare a budget that
is based on available resources’. Dlamini said, ‘Government has conducted a
thorough analysis of our expenditure in order to prioritise only the most
pressing concerns.’

Already, the
Swazi Government is to pay US$7.5 million for a fleet of luxury BMW cars to
transport dignitaries on the day. The cost of the cars alone bust
the US$1.7 million budgetthe
government allowed itself for the festivities. The 50/50 celebration lasts one
day – 19 April 2018.

E1 million (US$86,000) intended for retirement funds
and to help the disabled has been transferred from the Swaziland National Provident Fund (SNPF) to help pay
for the 50/50 celebrations. All police
officers and soldiers
in the kingdom have had money
deducted from their salaries to contribute. Businesses have also been asked to donate.

Mbingo wrote, Swaziland owed ‘it to ourselves to celebrate this kind of
milestone’.

He added, ‘But,
does this mean all the extravagance we are about to witness; the new cars; the
uncontrollable expenditure; and the looting that is taking place already? We
all know that long before this event takes place, there are people who have
already secured the bidding for the tenders and most of the money isn’t going
to be spent on where it should.’

He added, ‘The money is
about to, if not already, find its way to corruption, and sheer extravagance is
about to be displayed.’

Ten years ago in 2008
Swaziland held 40/40 celebrations. The cost overran by E32.6 million (about US$5 million at the then exchange rate).
E17 million was budgeted but it ended up costing ‘at least’ E50.2 million. The
exact figure is uncertain.

The budget overrun was
revealed in the ‘Comprehensive Project Completion Report’ (CPCR), written by Luke
Mswane, chair of the double celebrations committee that oversaw the 40/40
celebration that took place on one day – 6 September 2008.

The CPCR highlighted a
catalogue of mismanagement. Next to no time was made available to set a proper
budget for the events and it became impossible to keep track of the money. At
least E1.8 million was spent on capital projects without any formal written
authority.

The CPCR also stated that
E500,000 was budgeted for labour costs, but overtime paid to civil servants
amounted to E5 million.

Tellingly, since the world
was led to believe that King Mswati’s joy at his 40th birthday and the
independence anniversary was shared by his subjects, the CPCR report stated
that there was actually a lack of interest in the event and it was impossible
to attract sponsors. They had expected sponsors to pay E0.8 million but in fact
only E104,000 was given.